By empty (3/24/2006 issue of the CACI Analyst)
One year after the uprising which drove the Kyrgyz president from power, the new government of this Central Asian republic has been celebrating. A public holiday has been declared with a military parade and other festivities in the capital, Bishkek. But many people say the new leaders have not fulfilled promises to fight corruption and rebuild the economy.
One year after the uprising which drove the Kyrgyz president from power, the new government of this Central Asian republic has been celebrating. A public holiday has been declared with a military parade and other festivities in the capital, Bishkek. But many people say the new leaders have not fulfilled promises to fight corruption and rebuild the economy. Hundreds of students in Bishkek\'s central square on Friday re-enacted the storming of the presidential palace. The actors tore away the black shrouds around a tower symbolising the Kyrgyz constitution and freed those trapped in a great spider\'s web around it. The new President, Kurmanbek Bakiev, addressed the invited audience, telling them that Kyrgyzstan would never return to authoritarianism and was becoming a free and just society. Bishkek\'s great central square was then filled with martial music and the tramp of boots as the Kyrgyz army paraded its soldiers and armoured vehicles before the country\'s leaders. But many people will have listened to the president\'s televised speech with scepticism. There was widespread satisfaction when the long-serving previous President, Askar Akayev, fled into exile in Moscow. But supporters of the revolution hope for an end to widespread corruption and for an improvement in the sluggish Kyrgyz economy. Neither has come about. The government hopes these public celebrations and a holiday will hope improve the people\'s mood. (BBC)